General InformationThe invasive species that I chose for this project is the Aedes albopictus, also known as the Asian Tiger Mosquito. This small mosquito can be from two to ten millimeters in length. It is black and its legs are black and white striped. The species hitched a ride to the United States on tires shipped from Japan in 1985.
Detailed Description The Asian Tiger Mosquito can live for a few days to several weeks depending on the weather. Their life is as follows; eggs --> larva --> pupa --> adult, and then this cycle repeats. For reproduction, the female stores male’s sperm in her body and lays eggs several times throughout her short life, and she will only mate once. Asian Tiger Mosquitoes receive energy demand from nectar and other sweet plant juices, but they also bite mammals, birds, and humans for blood. They do best in residential areas here in the United States, where shade and water-holding containers are located. This adaptive species can outcompete or even eradicate other species with similar breeding habits.
Habitat and Distribution
The Asian Tiger Mosquito is native to Southern and Eastern Asia. It was first found in the United States in Harris Co., Texas in 1985. Within the next two years, it spread to seventeen other states.
Impacts
The Asian Tiger Mosquito can transmit certain viruses such as Eastern equine encephalitis and West Nile virus, and that it might also be an efficient insect of many different viral disease agents such as yellow fever, St. Louis encephalitis, and LaCrosse encephalitis. They are also known to transmit the causing factor of dog heartworm disease.
Control Measures
It is nearly impossible to ride the United States of these awful pests. The best thing that residents are urged to do is to check their garden pots for standing water and to clean their balconies of debris that might collect water. This is because that is where these mosquitoes breed.
Works Cited Moore, Chester G., and Carl J. Mitchell. "Aedes albopictus in the United States:
Ten-Year Presence and Public Health Implications." Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. National Center for Infectious Diseases, 29 Dec.
2005. Web. 8 Dec. 2009.
<http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol3no3/moore.htm>.
"The Asian Tiger Mosquito in Maryland." Maryland Department of Agriculture.
N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2009.
<http://www.mda.state.md.us/plants-pests/ mosquito_control/_asian_tiger_mosquito_md.php>.
"Asian Tiger Mosquito, Aedes albopictus." Center for Invasive Species Research.
University of California, 28 July 2009. Web. 8 Dec. 2009.
<http://cisr.ucr.edu/asian_tiger_mosquito.html>.
Detailed Description
The Asian Tiger Mosquito can live for a few days to several weeks depending on the weather. Their life is as follows; eggs --> larva --> pupa --> adult, and then this cycle repeats. For reproduction, the female stores male’s sperm in her body and lays eggs several times throughout
Habitat and Distribution
The Asian Tiger Mosquito is native to Southern and Eastern Asia. It was first found in the United States in Harris Co., Texas in 1985. Within the next two years, it spread to seventeen other states.
Impacts
The Asian Tiger Mosquito can transmit certain viruses such as Eastern equine encephalitis and West Nile virus, and that it might also be an efficient insect of many different viral disease agents such as yellow fever, St. Louis encephalitis, and LaCrosse encephalitis. They are also known to transmit the causing factor of dog heartworm disease.
Control Measures
It is nearly impossible to ride the United States of these awful pests. The best thing that residents are urged to do is to check their garden pots for standing water and to clean their balconies of debris that might collect water. This is because that is where these mosquitoes breed.
Works Cited
Moore, Chester G., and Carl J. Mitchell. "Aedes albopictus in the United States:
Ten-Year Presence and Public Health Implications." Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. National Center for Infectious Diseases, 29 Dec.
2005. Web. 8 Dec. 2009.
<http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol3no3/moore.htm>.
"Asian Tiger Mosquito." Illinois Department of Public Health Prevention &
Control. Division of Environmental Health, n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2009.
<http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/pctigermosquito.htm>.
"The Asian Tiger Mosquito in Maryland." Maryland Department of Agriculture.
N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2009.
<http://www.mda.state.md.us/plants-pests/ mosquito_control/_asian_tiger_mosquito_md.php>.
"Asian Tiger Mosquito, Aedes albopictus." Center for Invasive Species Research.
University of California, 28 July 2009. Web. 8 Dec. 2009.
<http://cisr.ucr.edu/asian_tiger_mosquito.html>.